3.22.24 Staff Blog
A HUGE CONGRATULATIONS TO TSA!!! Please see Becca’s recap below:
The 27 remarkable students representing Cascade K-8 at the Washington State TSA Conference did an AMAZING job this year. Not only did we take home a lot of awards and finalist pins, but students took their events seriously, participated in the education fair and leadership training sessions, worked hard, and helped each other and helped others at the conference as volunteers.
At the awards ceremony, the top 5 teams in an event are called to the stage to get finalist pins and stand on the stage while the top 3 teams are announced. We have never had so many teams called to the stage as we had this year.
Top 3 places:
Community Service Video: 1st Place (Olive Stieber, Dagny Lynn, and Tierneyt McGinnis)
Audio Podcasting: 1st Place ( Alice Cameron, Keegan Ellis, Ezrin Howell, Reyn Huff)
Children's Stories: 1st Place (Zoe MacDicken, Alaina Cross, Stella Clare Sullivan, Leah Cairns)
Silent Film: 1st Place (Alice Cameron, Keegan Ellis, Ezrin Howell, Martin Oster)
Fashion Design: 2nd Place (Willow Cole, Matilda Jacobson, Tierney McGinnis, Olive Stieber)
Digital Photography: 2nd place Ryah Anderson
Other finalists (4th and 5th place)
Inventions and innovations (Keegan Ellis, Martin Oster, Neel, Mahendru Alden Maas, Fynn Baldner)
Robotics Challenge (Mele Witwer and Quinn Farrow)
Biotechnology (Dagny Lynn, Stella Claire Sullivan, Alaina Cross)
One of the biggest and most exciting surprises is that the design created by our own 6th grade Stella Claire Sullivan is now the 2024 Washington State TSA Pin. These pins are usually designed by high school students and are traded with and collected by students from all over the country and some around the world at the National TSA Conference.
Thank you to Fergus Temporada, Kari Uhrich, and parents Kelle Cross, Kate Dewey, Bailey Witwer, Kelly Hanes, Eric Cairns, and others who judged or spent time with our wonderful kids. Also a huge thanks to the many parents who acted as event experts - it is due in part to all you did that our projects turned out so well.
Also, a HUGE Thank you to Cascade K-8 TSA President Keegan Ellis and the rest of the officer team - Alice Cameron VP, Ezrin Howell and Liam Nickeson - Tresurers, Fynn Baldner - Sergeant at Arms, Adwin MacGregor Secretary, and Scarlett Dewey Reporter for being a huge help throughout the conference and the school year.
Quick Look:
**As always, please check the IEP/SST Calendar for updates.
AFTER SCHOOL ACTIVITIES: HELPFUL
The next round of after school activities are starting in April. Registration is currently open, and I will provide you with a list of participating students when it is available. Here is the schedule:
Cooking Club
Mondays, Apr 1 – Jun 3, 2024 (except Apr 22, May 27)
Time: 3:35 - 5:15pm
Cafeteria needed from 2:45 - 5:45 for set-up and clean-up
need 3 tables, maybe 4.
Dandylyon Drama
Wednesdays, Apr 3 – May 29, 2024 (except Apr 24)
Time: 1:55 - 3:10pm (Last class on 5/29 runs 3:35-4:50pm)
Location: cafeteria
need tables cleared
Here's the registration link again for your reference, or in case anyone asks.
DO YOU NEED EQUITY HOURS?: ACTION
Fill out this INTEREST FORM
Here are the details:
STAFF SHOUT OUTS: HELPFUL
Thank you so much for filling out a staff shout out! If you would like to recognize a colleague, please use the link at the top of the blog. Here is our shout out for this week!
RAMADAN RESOURCES:
Ramadan is March 10 - April 9 this year, and Muslims around the world will fast from dawn to
sunset as part of their spiritual practices. Here are a few ways you can support Muslim students
during Ramadan, especially at the middle and high school level (though some elementary
students may choose to fast):
● Consider opening your classroom for students as a food-free area during lunch.
● Allow students to walk during PE instead of running as they cannot drink water.
● Provide a space for students to pray.
● Be mindful of your Muslim students if passing out food or treats in class.
● Provide alternative assessment options.
● Allow students to take a quick break if they struggle to concentrate.
● Be a support for students who may start wearing their hijab this month.
● Remember it is not a student's responsibility to educate class members about Ramadan.
Visit the following for more information:
Ramadan information from Islamic Networks Group
CAIR Educator's Guide to Islamic Religious Practices
April 10: Eid al-Fitr, which is the “festival of the breaking of the fast” and marks the end of
Ramadan every year.
STAFF OF THE YEAR NOMINATIONS ARE OPEN NOW!!:
Nominate a staff member you would like to see recognized as a staff member of the year. Use this form to nominate for a staff member of the year.
LANGUAGE ACCESS- NEW DISTRICT STAFF SUPPORT: HELPFUL
Language Access Bill E2SHB 1153 passed in 2022, which included new requirements for districts around Language Access for multilingual families, including the requirement that each district designate a Language Access Coordinator to spearhead this work.
Districts, including Shoreline, with more than 75 languages spoken were provided with a 2023-24 grant to fund a Language Access Coordinator position. Sarah Muchinski has been hired and will start in this role after midwinter break. We are excited to have Sarah join Shoreline to help us with this important work, more details to follow soon.
ELLISON FOUNDATION GRANTS: HELPFUL (Due April 1, 2024)
The Ellison Foundation is awarding multiple grants in the Spring of 2024 for the 2024 – 2025 school year. Grant amounts range between $1,000 and $10,000. The Ellison Education Grants were created to empower and support Washington State’s most effective, innovative and inspirational K- 12 public school teachers. The Ellison Foundation offers Academic Enrichment grants to individuals and teams of teachers supporting the development of innovative and engaging classroom or extracurricular programs that improve student learning. Professional Learning grants are offered to teams of teachers only (e.g.,grade level or subject matter) who are dedicated to improving their instructional practice through self-designed and collaborative professional learning plan. Application information can be found here.
REMINDERS: HELPFUL
AIR PURIFIERS:ACTION
In cooperation with PTSA, air filters in the classroom air purifiers are periodically replaced. If you have gotten out of the habit of turning on your classroom air purifiers, please plan on turning them on each morning. That way, we can maximize the air filter resource and hopefully make it through this cold and flu season with fewer impacts to us and our students. I will turn them on if I see they are off as I am in classrooms. Please help by turning on your air purifiers each day.
LUNCH PERIOD SCHEDULE: HELPFUL
This document is linked in our systems and procedures document, but I am including it here in case.
CK-8 SYSTEMS/STAFF HANDBOOK DOCUMENT (DRAFT): HELPFUL
This document is in progress, and will be updated as we all learn/refresh our memories on the systems and structures in place at CK-8. If you see an area that could use an addition, or if something is not correct, please email me the correction ( rebbecah.emanuel@ssd412.org)
DISTRICT INFORMATION: HELPFUL
FROM INSTRUCTION:
As we shared in the spring, due to our budget reductions, we were unable to purchase student licenses for our digital social studies curriculum this year. In addition, at the elementary level, we did not purchase teacher licenses. Mike VanOrden is working with teachers to review options to support our students, including the potential purchase of a limited number of student licenses for students served by our MLL, Special Education, and 504 programs, and refinements to curriculum materials we do have. We are also working with the publisher of the curriculum to determine if there may be options for elementary teachers. We will share updates with teachers and administrators as we have more information.\
DIMC:
This year, we have a number of openings on our District Instructional Materials Committee.Certificated staff members serving on the committee are paid for their time. If you are interested in serving on DIMC, please complete this short application.
Shoreline's District Instructional Materials Committee, consisting of classroom teachers, teacher-librarians, administrators, and community members, reviews proposed basic and supplemental instructional materials requested for use by teachers, curriculum teams, and administrators at monthly meetings. More information about the committee can be found here.
FROM STUDENT SERVICES:
Schools are required to document whether an interpreter is requested and provided for 1) IEP meetings and 2) reengagement meetings following an exclusionary plan. For every IEP meeting or reengagement meeting with a multilingual family, OFFICE MANAGERS will complete each field on your buildings tab on this spreadsheet. See District Policy 4218 for details about this requirement.
NEW FOR 2023-24: Language Line DOES qualify as use of an interpreter for this purpose.
TECH TIPS:
Here is an archive of all tech tips provided by the district technology team.
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